
LETTER 




REV. EDWIN II. CIIAPIX, LUCIUS R. PAIGE, ET. AL, 



CONTAININO 



^ REASONS FOR REFUSING TO SIGN A PROTEST 



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AMERICAN SLAVERY, 

BY N. M. GAYLORD, 

PASTOr. OF THE UNIVERSALIST CIIURCfl, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. 



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\ '■'■lie that passeth by and meddleth with strife, not belonging to him, is Uke one 
^ who taketh a, dog by the ears.'"— Frov. xxvi, 17. 

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AZ'5 




KiNyUlliER OFFICE, MEMPHIS. 



184C. 



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Class 
Book. 






LETTER 



IlEV. EDWIN II. CUAPIN, LUCIUS R. PAIGE, ET. AL. 



OONTAINlXti 



REASONS FOR REFUSING TO SIGN A PROTEST 



AMERICAN SLAVERY, 



BY N. M. GAYLORD, 

FASrOR Oh- THE L'NIVEKSALIST CHURCri, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE; 



"He that passeth l)y nnd tacddlelh vviili strife, not belonging to him, ia like diia 
who taktlh a dog by the ears."— Proy. xxvi, 17. 



Inquirer office, MCMPUii?. 



"1^^ 

^^s^ 



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T^-J . 6 



TO THE READER 



The following Circular and the accompanying letter will explain them- 
e-elves. I offer no apology for the opinions expressed in the letter— I only regret 
that I have not brought an abler and more practised pen to the discussion of the 
important question. I do not claim to have thrown any new light upon a subject 
that has already received a full discussion from some of the first intellects of the 
age, but have simply performed my duty, as I regard it, by giving the reasons 
which make it imperative upon my part to refuse my, name and very feeble influ- 
ence to the following Protest. 

I am decidedly opposed to the agitation of so exciting a subject as this has proved 
itself to be, especially by the denomination to which I belong. I regret that some 
of the most distinguished of the ministry of that denomination, should so far for- 
get thev.'isdom and prudence so necessary to their success, as to join the ranks of 
fanaticism, and give their influence to Q m.ad crusade, infinitely more foolish and 
useless than that of Peter the hermit. 

The authors of the protest are doubtless confident that they can conduct the 
discussion (for certainly they do not think this protest will settle the matter with- 
out discussion) of this vexed question in a calm, rational and christian manner, 
without eliciting anything unpleasant to our feeling?, or destructive to our pros- 
perity. We trust that they may not be deceived. We are, however, of opinion 
that it were as easy to play with lighted torches in magazines or powder mills, ^ 
and produce no evil consequences, as to agitate the abolition of American Slavery 
without arousing the worst passions of our nature. 

In the following letter I have strictly refrained from calling in question the mo- 
tives of the committee who put this paper forth to the world. They have long 
been known to the Universalist public as men of sterling integrity, elevated piety 
and distinguished ability. The many signal services they have rendered the cause 
of truth has endeared them to that public. The fact that they were chosen by an 
assembly, which embodied a largo portion of the talent and worth of the denomi- 
nation, to prepare this document, is a sufficient guarantee of their intellectual and 
moral weight. We confess that the shaJow of their fame has appeared unto U3 
ns a threatening spirit, warning us of the probable consequences of our temerity, 
bui while we honor the motives of these gentlemen, we must still be permitted to 
doubt the wisdom of their course, let the consequences 1x3 to us what they may. 

We wo^ld respoctfuUy suggest to our northern brethren, that there iscuiXigh to 



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IV 

fjigage their time and valuable talents, and enlist their strongest sj-rnpathics, with- 
out joining in tlie hue and cry of abolition. There is a l)ondage to error, and a 
cruel servitude to gross superstitions, worse than African; if they would confer a 
lasting blessing upon suffering humanity, let them give us their influence to assist 
in knocking off the shackles of prejudice, and removing the chains with which 
spiritual despotism would fetter thought. Let them send us, then, instead ol pro- 
tests against our domestic institu'ions, preachers of truth, who will declare unto 
the people "the unsearchable riches of the kingdom of Christ," and proclaim de- 
liverance to the captives of error, and the "opening of the prison doors to them 
that are bound"^ slaves to the narrow creeds cj a malign theology. It is not in 
any vain boasting spirit, but from the "signs and promises of better days," that we. 
venture the assertion, that in a very few years the seeds of truth wdl be sown 
proad cast over this land, and the faith in the ultimate salvation of the world, and 
the triumph of infinite goodness over all finite and lioMted evil, will be received 
with eager ^oy by tiiousands of "good men and true." In hope of the noon-tide 
^azeoi that day of light whose dawn we already behold, wo will 

"Learn to labor and to wait," 

and in the meantime, oppose every meddling spirit that can in the least prevent p, 
consummation so "devoutly to bo wished." N. M. G. 



CIRCULAR. 

EosTON, November 3, 1045,. 

Dear Brother: At a maps meeting of Unlversalists, held the day after the Ses- 
sip,n of the General Convention in September last, the following resolution was 
pAssed; and, agreeably to its instructions, tlie document hereby forwarded to you 
has been prepared, and is most respectfully and affectionately presented for your 
consideration: 

Resolved^ That a committee of five be appointed to prepare a solemn, earnest, 
and plain Protest against Amerienn Sh.very, and when prep.ired, to present it to 
every Universalist cTergyman in the United States for his signature, respectfully 
requesting those w;ho are not willing to sign it, to give a reason for refusing; and 
when it has been fullv cirridated, and they have waited a reasonable time tor an- 
swers, they shall publish the Protest and signatures, with the reasons offered by 
^hose who do not sign it. 

We trust you will give eaijly attention to this matter, and return an answer so 
Ijhat it may be received early m January next. 

AfTcciionately and truly vours, 

HENR^ BACON, 
SEP, ASTl AN S^i' R EETER , 
SYLVAN US COBB, 
LUCIUS R. PAIGE. 
EDWIN II. CIIAPIN. 



PROTEST. 

It is not from an idle cuiiosity, btit from a deep interest in theslgn= and prom- 
\p.es (»f f)etter dnvs, that we desire to know how stands the ministlv of the T-ni- 
X^fsalist church in reference to the great qucs;i|0n of American Slaverv. Tic 



ly^easure hereby adupted, is one that promisor such a result, as the request is pre- 
ferred to every minister ol' the Universalist denomination in the United .States, 
with brotherly alTection an 1 true respect. We wish, moreover, to know, from 
whom we can expect hearty fellowship and co-operation in our prayera, our pleas, 
and our labors to advance the cau.-?e of Human Freedom, and to whom we can 
look for sympathy in our abhorrence and detestation of that system which de- 
stroys, as far as man has power to destroy, the grand distinction between mankind 
and brutes, and which holds in perpetual bondage two and a half millions of our 
fellow creatures. We believe that by presenting a united front, we can add some- 
thing to the moral power that is creating a deep horror at the monstrous wrongs, 
of Slavery, and that shall gather strength and greatness till human nature cannot 
withstand the majesty ot the demand to '■'let the oppressed go free," but shall 
glorify God by loyalty to right and duty. With this desire, hope and trust, we 
oiler our Protest against American Slavery, in the following reasons: 

1. Because it de nies the eternal distinction between man and property, ranking 
a human being with a material thing. The attributes of the soul iorbid such a 
classitication; for that alone can he recognized as property which is not wronged 
by the act of bein^ ovvned by another. To man was originally given dominion 
over the lower orders of animals that he might have them as property, but he 
l^as no right nor grant to own his fellow being. 

2. Becaitse Slavery does not award to the laborer the fruits of his toil, in any 
liigher sen^e than to the cattle. All the claim to any property — even to the frails 
oj" the tillage of the smallest plat of ground — depends on the will of him who 
claims by the same tenure, both the soil and the laborer. Man was created to own 
and not to be owned; the claim of another upon the fruits of his toil as upon the 
nroduct of the service of a mere animal, overlooks the higher nature and the ab- 
solute rights of a liuman being. 

3. Because Slavery trammels the intellectual powers and prevents their expansion. 
Xhe <.'xpansibility of the human mind is one of its chief glories, and endless means 
are appropriated to it by its Creator. To labor systematically to dwarf the intel- 
lect, is to prevent the ppening, to a full vision, ot the eye that God made, where- 
with m«n should see him in the manifestations of himself through his laws. This 
Slavery does. Jt denies to the slaye even the alphabet of knowledge, the simplest 
elements of intellectual progress. Tiie very enactment of laws which forbid, un- 
der heavy penalties, any one to teach the slave to read and write, implies all that 
we claim for his intellectual capacity, and manifestly declares that the maintenance 
of the system depends upon dwarfing the intellect. 

4. Because Slavery cl^ecks the development of the moral nature of the slave. 
It denies him rights, and thereby denies him responsibility. VV^ith the denial of 
his manhood, necessarily goes his accountability; for where the distinction between, 
persons and things is lost, the duties and responsibilities of the person are merged 
in the thing. The slave is, to all intents and purposes of property, deprived of his, 
moral nature, and thereby of his participation in a common humanity. 

5. Because Slavery involves a practical denial of the religious nature of the slave. 
The supreme will, to the slave, is the will of the master; and that which dwarfs 
the intellect, and checks the development of the moral nature, must be opposed to, 
Religious growth. It takes from the victim the means which God has furnished to, 
beget antl foster a true and filial reverence towards himself, and gives no religion 
but credulity. It shuts up the Bible from the slave as effectually as ever Popery 
cjid from the people in the dark days of its niost terrific power. 

6. Because Slavery presents an insurmountable barrier to the propagation of the 
gyeat truth of the Universal Brotherhood, and thereby most efiectually prevents 
the progress of true Christianity. Under its broad shadow, Universalism cannot 
g^ow. _ The seed is at best, sown among thorns that choke its vegetation. Under 
the legitimfUe influences of such a system, the soul cannot regard with favor the 
religion which has the same voice and tone, the same commands and warnings, the 
sanfe hopes and promises, for him who is regarded as a thing and classed with cat- 
tle, as for the most elevated and gifted of the human race. And inasmuch as 
Slavery denies theerpiality that exists, by the attributes of human nature, between 
man and man, it cannot but frowrj on the religion of Christ, which is based on that 
equality, and whose great and fundamental "principle of morality id,— "Do unto 
Oiher.^ as ye woidd they should do unto you" 

7. Becauoc the esseiiiiul nature of Slavery cannot be altered by any kindness, 



howgrPTt poev.-^r, practised towards the slave. Kindnesses are but flowers in the- 
]inks of the chain whose iron eats into the soul, and no sweetness can lull the^ 
moral sense into forgetfulness ot" what slavery is. The highest kindness is com- 
paratively nothing, while the manhood of" the slave is denied or forgotten; for the 
first demand of love is, to respect the rights of another. While many slave- 
holders may, according to their conception of things, practise the utmost kindness 
to their slaves, that cannot alter one feature of deformity in the system of slavery. 

8. Because the long continuance of a syetem of wrong cannot palliate it, but on 
the other hand augsnents the demand tor its abolition. New victims are ushered 
into existence every day, while the natural alFections and the sanctities of marriage 
and domestic lite are disregarded and made subordinate to the interests of property. 

9. Because, while we would in all charity re:nernber that peculiarities ot situa- 
tion may affect the judgment and moral sense, still we must not forget, that no pe- 
culiarity of situation can excuse a perpetual denial of universal principles and obli- 
gations.- I'reedom is not the j^ift of charters and communities; it is not a benefit 
bestowed by geographical localities, but it is inherent in man as man, by the attri- 
butes of hisnature. Our religion demands of us, with a voice that cannot be si- 
lenced, that no limit of territory shall be permitted to exclude man from our sym- 
pathy, and no conventional laws shall supercede the eternal requisitions of justice 
and mercy. 

American Slavery is a system of wrongs, from its first principle to its crowning 
assumption; and in its train of evils are found all the iniquities that have eaten oui 
the life of communities and nations. It legalizes sins that are abhorrent to iho 
Firuplest moral sense; and in the increasing intelligence and philanthropy of the 
present age, it becomes more and more a stigma on our national name, a curse to 
our country''3 prosperity, and a giant moral evil that must be overthrown, or it 
will overthrow us by the retributive justice of Him who has declared the truth, — 
^'Ivighteousness exaltetli a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." 

For these reasons we I'ro-est agamst the system of American Slavery as utterly 
wrong, and confess our obligation to use all justifiable means to promote its abo- 
lition. 



LETTER. 



TO REV. EDWIN H. CIIAPIN, LUCIUS R. PAIGE, et. al. 

Brethren: I have received the Circular put forth by you, 
requesting my name to a Protest against Ameiican Slavery. 
I cannot sign the protest, but will, as you request, give the 
reasons that compel me to refuse. 

But first, permit me to remark, you have a singular mode 
of forcing an expression of opinion upon this vexed question. 
You first "desire to knovv^ how stands the ministry of the Uni- 
vcrsalist Church in reference to the great question of Ameri- 
can Slavery;" then, straightway, proceed to an emphatic ex- 
pression of your own views upon the subject, requiring of each 
member of that ministry an equally explicit avowal. You 
thus make it necessary for each one to define his position, or 
rest under the imputation of cowardice, or some other mo- 
tive equally repugnant to the honorable mind; and you doubt- 
less know there are those who believe this subject fraught with \/^ 
so much difticulty, that even its discussion can result in no 
good, but only unmixed evil. Your eloquent circular places 
siich an one in a very unpleasant position. If he keep silence, 
his motives will be neither understood or appreciated. If he 
speak out, he does so at the expense of conscientious scruples, 
by assisting to add strength to that violent spirit of agitation 
which threatens the subversion of all social order and the ex- 
istence of the Union itself. But, as I have no opinions upon 
this, or any other subject, that 1 cannot at all proper times 
freely express, I willingly comply with your request, by olfer- 
ing the reasons that are to mo amply sufficient for refusing my 
name and inlluencc to this protest. 

With due deference to the distinguished abilities of the 
committee who gend this document forth to the woild, I must 



8 

be permitted to object to the manner of that paper. It deals 
^ too much in abstraction.^, the characteristic mode of reasoning 
in this age of transcendentaUsm in religion, literature and mor- 
als. In the discussion of the great social and political question 
of Slavery we want distinct conclusions, drawn from well es- 
tablished premises; plain facts, based upon practical and impar- 
tial observation. Metaphysical disquisitions upon abstract 
rights and wrongs, when applied to a subject like this, only 
serve to "darken council by words without knowledge." The 
subject of American Slavery is eminently practical in all its 
J bearings. U the accumulated evidence of facts prove that 
the system, as it exists among us, violates no law, human or 
divine, all the abstract definitions of right and wrong that 
might be urged against it would be useless. The results of 
the inquiry into the actual effects of American Slavery, would, 
I think, disprove your assertions. This seems the favorite 
mode of attack with those who arc too honorable to use the 
weapons of the infamous libeler, and who are entirely igno- 
rant of the practical results of this feature of our social econ- 
omy; or, if not ignorant, are so prejudiced against the system, 
that they cannot possibly discover the gross exaggerations of the 
comparatively trifling evils of the state of servitude. Debarred 
equally by taste and principle from the use of the vile means 
of common assault, they base their opposition — for oppose 
they must — upon nice abstractions and dreamy theories, that 
arc altogether impracticable. The protest before me is an il- 
lustration of this. You have not given us a single tangible 
argument in that paper; it is, at best, but an eloquent denun- 
ciation of what many of the wisest and best of men believe 
a beneficial state, permitted by God, and not destructive of 
the well-being of its subjects; at least, as it exists among us. 
While there are many slaveholders who admit that the state 
^ of involuntary servitude, under certain influences, is prdduc- 
tivc of mucli misery to the victim of oppression, they will at 
once deny that American Slavery is the '*giant moral evil" 
your protest represents it. This reasoning from abstractions, 
and drawing distinct special conclusions iiom general princi- 
ples, is always unsatisfactory; for that which is an evil un- 
doubtedly, so considered, may not be evil when viewed in its 
results. Thus, disease and death are called evils, but they 
are the result of certain inflexible laws, and may not be actual 
evils. Sin, the dread curse of man's ])rescnt existence, can- 
not, when considered as an abstract principle, be possibly re- 



conclled with the infinite goodness of the Creator; yet no- 
thing is more evident, than that what men call moral evil, is but 
an agent of infinite benevolence in producing infinite good. 
But leaving this, 1 remark: 

1. I cannot sign the protest, because I am confident the at- 
tempt to remedy what you call an evil, in the manner you 
propose, is utterly futile. It ca7i do no good and zoill do much 
harm. Need I assure ybu. that the injudicious agitation of 
this subject has done more to defeat the designs of true hu- 
manity, than the cupidity of the slave trader, the interests or 
prejudices of the south, or any other influence? Many of the 
first intellects of the age, backed by extraordinary physical 
powers, and a moral force that seemed irresistible, have sig- 
nally failed in their attempts to remedy the evil. You are 
doubtless well acquainted with the history of the slave trade, 
and the almost superhuman efforts made to suppress it in the 
last sixty years. All the powers of the w^orld have prohibited 
the traffic; the United States taking the lead in denouncing 
it as crUel arid unjusto They have covered the African seas 
with arnlcd vessels, and the united voice of the nations has 
condemned this trade as barbarous and inhuman; yet, in the 
face of briathng cannon and omnipotent pubHc opinion, it has 
gone on increasing every year. Plain facts, familiar to all who 
have directed their attention to the subject, demonstrate the 
impossibility of suppressing the trade by force. The powers 
of the world may blockade the v/hole extended coast of Af- 
rica, at an annual expenditure of millions, and an immense 
loss of valuable life, and the bitter fruits of experience will 
prove the truth of what the most sagacious men have re- 
peatedly declared— "the slave trade cannot be destroyed by 
force." 

About the year 1T87, began the agitation, in England, of 
the question that has produced so many important results to 
conrimerce and the negro — whether for good or ill, is yet to 
be seen. It is not my object to inquire into the motives that 
induced the House of Commons and their Lordships to abolish 
slavery throughout the British dominions. Modern philan- 
thropy has made itself hoarse in bruiting the praise of Eng- 
lish benevolence! That there were men who were conscien- 
tiously devoted to the work from motives of humanity, I can 
well believe. I admire the religious devotion of purpose of 
Wilberforce, and think such men as Buxton and Thomas 
Clarkson, undeniably sincere; but that the same high and 

A 



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10 

honorable promptings influenced the knowing ones of the 
House of Lords and Connmons, I think admits of some doubt. 
Be this as it may, their newly awakened hatred of oppression 
— of negro oppression — found an echo in the hearts of the ab- 
oHtionists of Mew England, that hot-bed of fanaticism and 
cant, as well as cradle -'of liberty and home of enlightened 
toleration. Soon, all the powers of the world caught the con- 
tagion of sympathy for the oppressed African — who, poor fel- 
low, has little cause to thank them for their sympathy — and a 
crusade was preached against negro slavery. ]t was necessary, 
in the first place, to strike at the root of the evil by destroy- 
m^ the business of the kidnapper and slaver. The example 
of this country was soon followed by the rest of the world in 
condemning and prohibiting this traffic. Nation vied with na- 
tion in attempting to destroy an infamous practice. For more 
than sixty years the united energies of governments and pri- 
vate communities have been put forth. The Houses of Con- 
gress and Parliament have rung with thrilling eloquence, de- 
picting in everlasting colors the fearful wrongs of the. slave, 
and the accumulated horrors of the crime of his oppressor. 
The press has groaned with the weight of expressed opinion^ 
while speeches, sermons, books, pamphlets, tracts and papers 
have foil en 

"Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks 
In Valombrosa" • 

What has been the result of all this labor? Let me direct 
your attention to a fevf facts that are expressive on this point. 
In 1787, it was reported that forty-tive thousand Africans were 
annually taken from their homes and brought to America and 
the West Indies. The mortality of the Middle Passage was com- 
puted by soniui at five, and is now known not to have exceeded 
nine per cent. In 1840, Sir Thomas Fow^al Buxton, an ac- 
tive coadjutor of Wilberforce and Clarkson, stated that the 
number of Africans annually sold into bondage, beyond the 
^eas, ambunted, at least, to one hundred and fifty thousand; 
and that the attempt to suppress the trade had increased the 
fearful mortality of the Middle Passage to twenty-five or thirty 
percent.; and further, Judge Jay, who would hardly make a 
misstatement on this subject, has said, that of the one hundred 
and fifty thousand captured by British men of war, since the 
passage of the act prohibiting the trade, one hundred thousand, 
'Vr two-thirds, have peribhed under the most distressing circum- 



11 

stances, between their capture and liberation. So much, then^ 
for the stupendous results of philanthropic effort in this quar- 
ter. Let us now see what has been done towards abolishing 
American slavery, that "system of wrongs from its first prin- 
ciples to its crowning assumption." 

It would seem that the rash experiments of dreamy abstrac- 
tionists and fervid enthusiasts in reform, had been sufficiently 
tried, to prove the worse than folly of attempting the destruc- 
tion of this political institution, established in the infancy of 
the country, and confirmed by constitutional guarantees. But 
it is not so. The restless spirit of innovation — the perversion 
of the true spirit of progress — wall not be satisfied vrith re- 
forming real abuses; but in its Quixotic combat with imagi- 
nary evils, not only causes confusion and dismay to others, but 
seriously endangers its own safety. The origin of negro sla- 
very among us, is well known. '^A ship of one Thomas Key- 
ser and one James Smith, the latter a member of the church 
of Boston, first brought upon the colonies the guilt of partici- 
pating in the traffic of American Slaves." From that tim^ there 
has been a deep-rooted prejudice against the system. But the 
mother country compelled the colonies to adopt it. As they 
grev/, slavery increased, and when the confederacy was formed, 
it was incorporated with our other institutions by lav/. Those 
wise men who framed the charter of our liberties and laid 
the foundation of our unequaled greatness, were blind to its 
'•monstrous wTongs" — -they did not look upon it as a "giant 
moral evil;" and even the Father of the Republic assisted 
to fasten upon us this "curse to our country's prosperity." 
The authors of the Constitution, that extraordinary assem- 
blage of men, who embodied the wisdom and virtue of revo- 
lutionary times, presented a "united front" against tyranny 
and unjust oppression, but did not consider domestic servi- 
tude in this light; for they made the right to have property in 
the slave as sacred to the citizen of the south, as the same right 
in houses and lands to the citizen of the north. 

This institution, established in the days of the colonics and 
confirmed by the righteous decrees of the Constitution, has 
been strengthened by custom and immemorial usage, and be- 
come a necessary feature of our social existence, at least, for 
years to come. It cannot be easily destroyed. The influ- 
ence of interest, of custom and prejudice, present an impas- 
sable barrier to the success of your schemes; and when you 
reflect that the m:iS3 of slaveholders, so lar from believini; the 



12 

fjstcm one of wrongs, conscientiously think it a necessary and 
beneficial one for the negro, not only will interest prevent, 
hut motives of genuine humanity will keep them from acce- 
ding to your wishes. The war, which the north in its excess of 
disinterested benevolence has waged against the south, has 
been characterized by a mad spirit, that even admitting the 
horrors of the black curse, would defeat its object. The 
irrational excess of abolitionists has stirred up the licrce pa&. 
tions of slaveholders and driven them to acts, which in cool 
moments of reflection, they have regretted. But you will 
admit that it is a difficult thing for a man, with the usual share 
of human sympathies, to preserve a passive dignity, while he 
beholds the fiend-hearted incendiary apply the torch to his 
own roof-tree. The tierce fanaticism of anti-slavery men, and 
the inflammable passions of the slave dealer, have already 
'^eaten out the life of communities," which is '^harmony., the 
essential strength of all well regulated institutions." 

And after all the agitation, for more than sixty years, what 
has been effected? Nothing. The bullying denunciations of 
O'Connell, the most corrupt of dciragogues, and virtual mas- 
ter of millions of serfs from whom he diligently collects the 
*v//i//' the insane revilings of Arthur Tappan and Lloyd Gar- 
rison; the silly rhapsodies of Abby Kelly and Leavit; tlie 
frantic curses of Cassius M. Clav, added to the united elforts 
of the most able divines of the m.ost pppjilar churches; from 
Sir Robert Peel to the last travelling ^incarnation of cockney 
sentiment;" from Judge Jay to Abby Folsom, all have signal- 
ly failed in their labor of love. The attempt of the Hercules 
of modern philanthropy, to lop off the heads of this hydra, 
have all proved abortive; slavery still exists— whether imita- 
tions of the "stars and stripes" ar^ made upon the backs of its 
victims by the lash of the driver, is a question for the incor- 
ruptible patriot of "the Emerald gem on the ocean's breast" 
to settle. This is, at least, apparent to all — a prospect of the 
speedy reform of the evil does not exist. "New victims arc 
ushered into existence every day" to swell the ranks of the op- 
pressed, v\^hile the attempt to take from him his property has 
made the master more determined than ever to resist, if need 
be, to the death, any encroachments on his rights. 

You say in your protest: "We believe that by presenting a 
united front, we can add something to the moral power that is 
creating a deep horror at the monstrous wrongs of slavery," 
&c. Now, cevtuinly it is the part of wisdom, for the present, 



13 

to take warnlno; or encouragement fronn the past. There ii 
nothing in the history of the abohtion movement in this coun- 
try to strengthen your conviction that the "united front" of 
Universahsm can do what the most influential churches have 
failed to effect; churches, too, that for obvious reasons pos- 
sess a control of the public mind that we cannot have for 
many years. It is evident to my mind, that any action we 
may take, as a body, or individuals, will do no good, but cer- 
tainly rjiuch harnq. The attempts that have been made to 
free the slave, have fastened the rnanacles more tightly, and 
philanthropy, in its strong love for the negro, has sunk him 
deeper in his degradation. Why is it made penal in some of 
the States to teach slaves '^the alphabet of knowledge?" I 
answer, that while there are abolitionists who would sliudder 
at the result of infusing into the two and a half millions of 
slaves the spirit of such maniacs as Garrison and Tappan, 
there are others who would incite to insurrection, murder and 
rapine, and make of a being now contented and happy, a / 
hlood-thirsty demon, who in his blind rage to revenge fancied 
wrongs, would soak his hands in our blood, and dishonor our 
mothers, wives and daughters. Why is it absolutely necessa- 
ry for the master, in some neighborhoods, to draw the reins 
closer than he himself dosires? Because the "friends of the 
whole humnn race,"" would, if let alone, rr^ake cf the slave 
who now performs his simple round of duties, in his appropri- 
ate sphere, fully satisfied with his condition, a ferocious rebel, 
and thus drive him to his own inevitable destruction. If the 
privileges of the negro have been curtailed, he may thank 
such reformers as Nat. Turner and Arthur Tappan. lie has 
no reason to thank his friends for their ofiicious sympathy ; they 
kill him with kindness, and though he has in his death the 
consolation to know that the motive which prompted such a 
display of regard, sprung from a "deep horror of the mon- 
strous wrongs of slavery," still, he begs to be excused from be- 
ing the subject of so much benevolence. A late writer has 
applied one of yEsop's Fables in illustration of tliis point, 
which I commend to your attention. 

A rude wood cut in a plain prose edition of iEsop's Fables, 
represented a Blackamoor standing in a tub of water, sur- »^ 
rounded by a group of talkative, zealous, philanthropic wo- 
men— "widows, maids and wives" — all wary busily engaged, 
som3 in throwing water upon, others in scrubbing him with 
mops and brushes, for the very benevolent purpose of making 



11 

him white. They pursued their labor, v/hiie with iniinita t;iik 
of human sympathies, benevolent yearnings and common 
brotherhood, they were confident of success. The natural 
result was, the death of the unfortunate blackamoor. They 
gave him his '^death o' could." Now a decided passion for the 
tub and scrubbing brush has taken possession of our brethren 
of the north; and though amusing enough to them, is produc- 
tive of too many unpleasant resuitSj both to master and slave, 
to be any longer interesting here. We beg of you, then, not 
to endanger the happiness of 3'our fellow creatures by unwise 
experiment?. A little reflection will convince you that you 
cannot make that wJiite which is naturally and necessarily black. 
2. I cannot sign the protest, l)ecause I do not admit -the 
truth of its assertions. In your first paragraph you say: "To 
man was originally given dominion over the lovv^er orders of- 
animals, that he might have them as property, but he has no 
right Jior grant to own- his fellow being.^^ If the 'express com- 
mand and permission of God himself can confer the right to 
hold property in man, then has man received from the source 
of all power and authority, tliQ gra.at to have property in his 
fellow-being; and here permit me to say, I am not vain enough 
to suppose i am oiiering anything new upon a subject which 
has engaged the ablest minds in the country. You are doubt- 
less familiar with the arguments, pro and con^ on this question; 
I cannot hope to throw new light upon so dark a subject; I 
but use the arguments that have been frequently oiicred by 
the defenders of domestic slavery. The Bible evidences that 
support the position we take, are, to my mind a,t least, une- 
quivocal. 1 submit to your v/ell known critical accumen the 
following proofs: 

1. The practice of buying and selling men existed at a very 
early period of human society, and was not prohibited by the 
JjAiy as sinful. In Gen. xxxvi, 27, we have an account of this 
sort of transaction — the selling of Joseph by his brethren. 
That it was a general custom is evident from the language 
of the brothers when they beheld the Ishmaelites: "come 
lit us sell him," and "they sold him for twenty pieces of sil- 
ver." Tiiis is not given as proof of the right to sell and buy, 
but s mply to prove the fact^ at this early period, uncondemned. 
But domestic servitude, or slavery, existed before this time. 

2. Slaves were bought and sold and considered as prop- 
erty. When Abram made his exodus from Mesopotamia, 
he took with him his family and his property. A portion of 



15 

that property consisted in male and female slaves. Gen. xii^ 
5: "And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, bis brother's 
gon, and all their substance that they had gathered and the 
80uls that they had gotten in Ilaran." Verse sixteen, ex- 
plains who were "the souls gotten in Ilaran:" "And he had 
sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid- 
servants, and she-asses and camels." Did Abram own these 
"men-servants, and maid-servants?" The decisionof this turns 
upon the meaning of the word gotten*'^'' See the use of the 
word in Gen. xxxi, 1: Laban's sons said, "Jacob hath ta- 
ken away all that was our father's: and of that which was 
oar father's hath he gotten all this glory." The sense of got- 
ten is, here, to earn or procure: Deut. viii, 17, 18: "My 
power * * hath gotten me this wealth;" so, also, 
Ezek. XXVII, 4: "With thy wisdom and with thine understand- 
ing thou hast gotten these riches and hast gotten gold into thy 
treasures," This is enough to show the meaning of gotten* 
What v/as thus ^o^^en was certainly ozvned. 

3. See Gen. xvii, 12, 13: "And he that is eight days old shall 
be circumcised among you, every man child in your genera- 
tions: he that is born in the house, or bought zuith money of any 
stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in the house, 
and he that is bought with thy money^ must needs be circum- 
cised;" and ver. 23: "Ail that were born in his house, and all 
that were bought with his money." Those vv'ho were bought 
with his money he certainly owned, and by divine permission. 
But you may say, these were only hired servants, and not 
owned in the sense in w4nch the slaveholder of the south claims 
his negro as his property. I answer, the difference between 
hired servants and those bought with a price is very distinct; 
one state was voluntary, the other involuntary. See Exodu3 
XII, 43,45: "This is the ordinance of the passover: there shall 
no stranger eat thereof. But every man's servant that is 
bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall 
he eat thereof. A foreigner and a hired servant shall not cat 
thereof;" also, Jer. xxii, 10, 11: "There shall no stranger eat 
of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant 
shall not eat of the holy thing. But if the priest buy any soul 
Vvdth his money, he shall eat of it," &c. Even the priests of 
God were slaveholders in those days! 

4. God permitted the buying of Hebrew slaves by their breth- 
ren. Exod. XXI, 2: "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six 
years shall he serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for 



16 

noiliing." But this servitude may become perpetual — vcr. 5. 
G: "And if the servant shall plainly say I love my master, my 
wife and my children, I will not go out free, then his master 
shall bring him unto the Judges: he shall also bring him unto 
tlie door, or unto the door post, and his master shall bore his 
ear through with an awl: and he shall serve him forever." 
See, also, Deut. xv, 16, 17, which I need not quote. This is 
a plainly legal transaction, sanctioned by God himself. The 
master, I think, owned the servant of the bored ear. But the 
following will settle the question of property in slaves: Lev. 
XXV. 41,45, 46: "Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids shall 
be of the heathen that are round about you, of them shall ye 
buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover, of the children of 
the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall you buy^' 
and of their families, that are v/ith you, which they begat iii 
your land: and they shall be your possession* And ye shall take 
them as an inherilance for your children after you, to inherit 
for a possession ; they shall be your bondmen forever. But over 
your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over 
the other with rigor." Here I m.ight rest the controversy; for 
we thus prove that the Almighty Father himself gave the right 
to the children of Israel to own their fellow men. They were 
to hold them bondmen and bondmaids, bought from among the 
heathen, as a possession that might become hereditary. They 
had the same kind of property in them as in material things, 
and could legally transmit them to their children after them, 
as a possession. There can be no discussion respecting the 
term possession; it is the same used in reference to lands and. 
other tenements. See ver. 41: "And unto the possessions of 
his fathers shall he return." You will not deny the permanent 
ownership of the son who returned at the jubilee, unto the 
possession of his father. He had the same kind of right to 
own his slave, bought with his money, or inherited with his 
lands. 

Thus, then, do we show from the Bible, that the right and 
grant to have property in man, existed more than three thou- 
sand five hundred years ago, sanctioned by Jehovah. That 
it was not then a "giant moral evil," is evident from the fact 
that the God of the Hebrews, not only permitted its existence, 
but gave laws for its regulation. But you will say he also per- 
mitted polygamy, and gave laws for its regulation, does it 
therefore follow that a plaraliiy of wives is right? Not ex- 
actly; for Jesus Christ, the author of the new and better cove- 



17 

nani, wijicb fuliilis tlic law, has condemned polygamy. But 
whil J we show tliat slavery existed tliroug'ioat almost the whole 
period over which the Jewish dispensation extends, neither 
condemned by patriarch or prophet, angels or m^n, we chal- 
lenge the woi'ld to point out a single sentence in the A^cw Tes- 
tamenl;, tliat rorl)ids the state as a system of wrongs. Though 
slavery in its worst and most abhorrent forms existed all around 
Christ and his Disciples, yci^ they did not attempt to create 
*'deep horror at the monstrous wrongs of slavery." They de- 
nounced the hypocrisy and bigotry of the Pharisee and the 
spiritual wickedness of the priests, and severely rebuked the 
glaring sins of the age, but said nothing about this damning 
crime of modern days. 

-When Paul wandered through the streets of Athens, gazing 
with holy indignation upon the wonderful triumphs of Gre- 
cian art, devoted to the grossest superstitions, he must have bc- 
Md some of the debasing influences of that system which 
placed not only the persons, but the lives of thousands of mis- 
erable helots in the power of the master; but he spoke not of 
Ihe sin. How can you account for his silence on so important 
a subject while in Rome? The inordinate luxury of the dis- 
solute Roman, of that and preceding ages, made it necessary 
i^r him to be surrounded with a multitude of slaves, and they 
had increased with the corruption of manners to such an ex- 
tent, that Tacitus represents Tiberius, in a letter to the Sen- 
ate on the poiligacy of the tim.'S, as saying: '-must 1 retrench 
the number of your slaves^ so great at pres^ent, that every fam- 
ily S2ems a nation in itselfr! The evil had doubtless increased 
to an alarming extent in the days of Paul, yet he was silent^ 
upon the subject, lie followed the ^example of his m.ister, 
who had said: '-My kingdom is not of this world," and inter- 
fered not with the ])olitical and social relatiojis of a people 
that offered no impediment to the success of cin-istianif.y, be- 
cause it violated no law of God. Paul even converted a run- 
away slave, Onesimus, and sent him back to his master, Phile- 
mon, wlio was also a believer: See Col. iv, 8, 9. How barbar-. 
ous and inhuman, exclaims modern sentimentalism! Would 
not that she-apostle. Abbey Kelly, have read Paul a feeling* 
lecture on his cruelty, in thus returning an escaped captive to 
the "chain whose iron eats into the soul." Verily, the "spirit 
of this age" is a '•hv^w'^ one. 

3. I caanot sign the protest, because I do not admit the ^ 
trutli of t!w following dxliration: ••Because slavery dojs not 

u 



18 



award to the laborer the fruits of his toil in any higher scns3 
than to cattle." This is a nnistake, and 1 can only account fof 
its appearance here, by supposing you ignorant of the Hicts of 
the case; for while the master considers himself entitled to the 
whole of his servant's labor in return for his wages, which are 
food, clothing and protection, it is a general custom through- 
out the slave region, to give servants opportunities to make 
extra wages, thus enabhng them to display wliatever of natu- 
ral talent they may possess. If they have suiRcient energy to 
provide for their wants, in a state of independence, they have 
no reason to complain; I assure you that the shining, jolly fel- 
lows, who, during holidays and frequent festivals unknown to 
the very poor of the north, riot in the third heaven of happi- 
ness, on the product of their own industry, or the liberality of 
the master, would consider your comparison a great indignity,^ 
They think, simple fools !■ that to pass a protracted infancy in 
comfortable idleness, to have throughout manhood all their 
simple wants suppHed, and in old age to be surrounded with 
the comforts necessary to enjoyment, is to secure the fruits of 
their labor in a somewhat higher sense than cattle, who, when 
no longer able to work, are turned out tc die. 

4. But say you, "slavery ti'ammcls the inteMectual powers,*' 
it "denies to the slave the very alphabet of knowledge," and 
thus "dwarfs the intellect." The causes which made it neces- 
sary to prohibit education to tlie slave, have been hinted at 
already. The penal laws upon this subject have been en- 
actad from motives of safety and humanity — yes, humanity! 
For though "knowledge is power," and the blessings of edu- 
cation are incalculable, still tliat which is so essential to the 
highest happiness of men, und. r certain influences, may be 
an'd frequently is, the fruitful source of multipUed miseries. 
It is a "savor of-*life unto lile," but mny be "of death unto 
deatli;" and those who mad? it penal to teach the slave the 
"alphabet of knowledge," reasoned truly that 

'•Where ignorance is bliss, His folly to be wise," 

especially when that wisdom would ensure the extinction of 
t'.ic race. 

It is foreign from the design of tliis letter to compare the rel- 
ative capacity of the white and black races for mental culture. 
Tlic negro mn^ possess all the elements of intellectual great- 
ness. Somi sable Bacon may yet astonish the republic of 
leLtcr^ by an imnroveni'jnt on the ^^Xrouin Organum,"' and 



19 

tcacli ])y the ^'hiductir^i procrss'' tlic rii;ht of insurrection. 
Some woojiy-heatlod JlamjKlon, uniting the soft graces of the 
scholar and man oi taste, to the consummate skill of the sol-- 
tlier, may infus^ the spirit of resistance to tyranny into the 
fiery hearts of his fellows and lead them on to victory, while 
some "0/r/ Ebony^^'' catching the inspiration of the "blind old 
bard of Scio's rocicy isle," will make himself and subject im- 
mortal in the glowing verse of heaven-born genius. I admit 
that it is a very pleasing dream to give intellectual cultiva- / 
tion to two and a half millions of slaves, but as diflirult to re- 
alize as the Republic of I'lato or the Utopia of Sir Thomas 
Moore. When you have made Presbyterian Trinitarians of 
the disciples of Islem, or formal churchmen of Scotch Cove- 
nanters, you may hope to give high intellectual attainments to 
the negro race, and place them, in this respect, upon a level 
with their brethren of the white. 

The soutiiern negro is now littgd to his sphere; he per- 
forms his simple round of duties and is as happy as you can 
make him. He is adapted, physically, mentally , and morally 
to this mode of life, and to no other. You would expand his 
"dwarfed" intellect? Do so, and give him the lucubrations 
of Garrison and Tappan to read, and you destroy him, by 
making him loathe unwisely the mode of life which secures 
him in possession of all that is necessarj^ to his comfort. You 
are much mistaken wdien you assert that the slave is regarded 
as a mere animal, and that his manhood is denied, for he is 
regarded as a human being worthy of sympathy; nor is he so 
brutally ignorant as you mav appose. I'rue, he docs not 
thrill with rapture over the ^)ages of Shakspeare, Milton and 
JMoliere; his heart would no^ throb wath a peculiar pleasure 
wlien listening to Cicero, Maisiilon and Burke; he would hard- 
ly appreciate the wit of Juvenal or Pascal, and would be in- 
sensible to the graces of Fenelon, or the strength of Bossuct. 
He would not catch a kindred inspiration when gazing 
upon the beautiful creations of Appelcs, Angello or Powers; 
and sure I am, the music of a cracked bcniji) would have far 
greater charms for him than the finest ellbrts of the divine 
Pasta, or the bird-like melody of the MaHibran; and even the 
wizzard of Norway would be unappreciated. Yet, with all 
his defects, and though he is necessarily ignorant of the arts 
t!iat refine and tiie sciences that ennoble b.is master, still, his 
intercourse with a su])erior race, tliough ujider some restraint, 
is comparatively free. If he [^o?sess (juick perceptions and 



20 

vigorous raniltic?, thoy are called out and Improved. lie is 
thus enabled to educate himself for all the purposes of life, 
he asks no other scliool, he needs no ether. Would you take a 
creature thus situated in the enjoyment of peace and content- 
ment, and make oflilma morbid discontented dreamer, by 
iillin''' bis ears Avith high sounding words, embodying abstract 
])rinciples notapplical)le to practical life? Would you indoc- 
tiiuatc him into tlic beauties of trcinscendcnlol philos.iphy, that 
lie miiii;ht have the exquisite pL^asurc of reading Carlyh^ and 
I'^merson? Would you for the simple language of duty, af- 
f .^ction and deference, teach him the rabid incohcrencies of 
fimaticism? If so, you vrould do him a great injury. Ad- 
mitting the disparity of social position between master and 
slave, still, it is certain that the condition, in every respect, of 
the two and a lialf millions of slaves in this country, is un- 
measura^lely above that of their fellows in Africa. '''The oldest 
accounts of the land of the ^negroes, like the glimmering tra- 
ditions of Egypt and rhenicia,of Greece and of Rome, bear 
witness to the existence of domestic slavery and the carivans 
of dealers in negro slaves; and "at this day it is computed by 
eye-witnesses, tliat probal)ly nine-tent!is of the population of 
Africa are slaves; the master's power being in most cases 
arbitrary, even over life. Mr. Ilazlehurst, a missionary 
just from that country, states that many of the tribes eat their 
piisoners; and when a prince dies, a thousand slaves are often 
first mutil'ited and then buried with him."' Every traveller, 
from t!ie days of Park to the present tim^, has given accounts 
of the inhuman cruelty of a system of slavei-y more deba- 
sing:, in all its horiible details, than ever dreamed of by tl 



most hard hearted master among us. From the remotest 
antiquity, the barbanan tribes of this benighted land have 
preyed upon each otiier. Now, I would not defend the 
slavetrade and its fearful abuses, but I am clearly of opin- 
ion tliat t'ue victims of th.at trafiic have been greatly benefit- 
ted by tlieir capture. From scenes of bloody violence and 
savag:) anarchy, they are removed to a land of peace — placed 
under the benign inlluences of our civilizLition — they become 
nn important part of O'.ir social compact, en Titled by tlie laws 
of the land to all that is necessary to secure their comfort. 
Compare the sl.ives of Am?rica with the brutal herds that 
roam through the wilds and jungles of Africa, and unless you 
are the slaves of fanaticism, you will acknowbdge t!iat Amer- 
ican slwery ha«? proved a great bl -ssing to t!ie n?gi'o. Cer- 



21 

t-iinly that rniinot l>3 n. "giant moral evil," which has made of 
a savago a civihzad creature, and elevated from the gloosn of ^ 
Pagan superstition, into the enjoyment of christian privileges^ 
thousands wlio ^^ould else have lived and died in t!ie most ah- 
ject ignorance and animal siu])idit3% 

5. But the system "checks the development of tlie moral 
nature of the slave?' To this I might reply, that no marl 
would be foolish enough to deny, that the moral advantage of 
our slaves over tlie same "race in the native country, are as 
great as their physical and social condition is better. But 
there is a more direct and satisfactory answer to this. Your 
declaration is mere assumption; slavery does not deny the 
moral nature of its subjects — it does not "check the develop- 
ment" of the religious faculty. The admonitions and rea- 
sonable teachings of Paul are as applicable to the slave now, 
asvrhen they were first uttered. The slavery of this country 
and this age, docs not "check the development of tlie moral ^ 
nature" in any other way than it did in the first century, if 
among the christian duties enjoined by the i^postle, was the 
kind treatment of slaves and a care for their moral instruction. 
The same duty still exists, and by believing masters is still 
understood and acted upon. 

An inquiry into t'le moral condition of tlie slaves of the 
south and \!\\q free blacks of the north, would be one of interest 
to me, and I doubt not tliatit would i)e found, that the south- 
ern slave, witii his "dwarfed intellect" and "undeveloped mor- 
al nature," has if not the advantage, at least equal privileges 
with his m.ore favored nortlicrn brother. You certainly can- 
not be ignorant of the fact that the religious instruction of the 
slave has engaged the attention and exercised the talent of 
som^ of the first minds of the south, amor.g whom, as exam- 
ples of untiring z^al and devotion in tliis good work, are Drs. V 
Fuller and Capers. So far from the religious nature of the 
slave being neglected, the churches have made provision for 
their oreil instruction. The negroes are now, and have heen 
for years, under the care of men who feel a deep interest in 
their spiritual improvement, and devote themselves to the work 
witli a zeal thjit knows no discouragement. I take the follow- 
ing from t!ie "-JVashinglon Telegraph :^^ I commend it to your 
attention: 

"IvELiu lus Lvf^TuucTioN 0" Sr.AVES —It oppcnr? from tlie intercstinf? rpport of" 
a Meih.nlisi Convt^niion, recently held in Ciinrle^tMii, South Cnrnlma, tli;it bo 
sidrs the attentioii paid by travdhiig uml |(»ca I preachers to the neijrcK's in their 
rcgr.ia. niiiiiaUMti jns, there are between ei<,'hty and ninety niissionarie:; to them, 



2*2 

wh.) Imvc nnd:T tlioir charge over eighteen ihou«and churcli memhera, nrul one 
hundred ihijiisand attendiims on tlieir services. Over one I luniyand negroes are 
in connexion with the Methodist church in Texas. The South Carolina Confer- 
ence has sixteen missionaries to the negroes— the Georgia Conference twelve- 
Tennessee five— Alabama seven— Memphis nine— Arkansas one — iVlississipjti 
sevtn— North Caroliiia two— Virginia two. The catechising of the children an'd 
youth is a prominent part of their lahor. Dr. Capers' catechism, prepared ex- 
pressly tor the purpose, is extensively used; four thousand three Isundred and 
eighty children are catenhi^ed in the missions of the South Carolina Conferences, 
and the expense of those misions is over eleven thousand dollars annually." 

A comparison of the moral condition of these thousands of 
well-fed, comfortably clothed, and religiously instructed slaves 
with the same number of the indolent, poor and vicious crowds 
— the very refuse of the dregs of the lowest society^ that 
throng certain places in your populous cities, would exhibit 
the poor slave and his religious advantages in a very favorable 
light. The moral condition of the negroes on a well regula- 
o ted plantation—and there are thousands such in this region — 
is infinitely better than that of the miserable wretches who 
issue from the purUeus of Small street^ Philadelphia, Ann 
street, Boston, and like places in New York and Cincinnati. 
Who is so blindly benevolent as to wish the immediate aboli- 
tion of domestic slavery, when the result would be the in- 
crease of the nameless horrorsof these sinks of crime? Would 
you add a "lower deep" to their already monstrous degrada- 
tion? then free the millions of slaves who are now provided 
for in every respect, and you would see, when too late, the 
curse you have brought upon yourselves and the unfortunate 
object of your solicitude. 

C. In your sixth paragraph you say: "Because slavery pre- 
sents an insurmountable barrier to the propagation of the great 
truth of the Universal Brotherhood, and tliereby most eilect- 
ually prevents the progress of true Christianity.' Under its 
broad shadow Universalism cannot grow." It is true, Uni- 
versalism, or true Christianity, exists to a very limited extent 
throughout the whole south-west. Whether the "broad shad- 
ow" of slavery, like a deadly iipas^ has prevented the growth 
of this heavenly plant, is a (jucstion for discussion. We admit 
with sorrow, that througliout the vast extent of this fertile 
valley of the Mississippi, there are (qw preachers of rational 
Christianity, and little of the spirit of the gospel. But what 
^ is a subject of greater regret is, there will be fiioer preachers, 
and less of that life-giving spirit, unless you Spiritual Fathers 
j^void the fanaticism of abolitionists as the j)rudcnt mariner 
would a sunken rock; for as sure as destruction awaits the fa- 
ted bark, driven by angry winds upon a lea shore, so surely 



23 

T7111 this protest of yours rrrateriallj retard the progress of oifr 
faith among this people. It will not only, if persisted in de- 
stroy the peace and harmony so necessary to us, hut close the 
ears of thousands to our message of truth and love. 

I need only refer you to the example of the Methodist 
Church to show the madness and folly of such agitation of 
an exciting topic. Methodism has been for many years pop- 
ular in the south, not only with the whites, but especially with 
the blacks. Among the most distii>guished of its votaries, it 
nurnbers thousands of slaveholders, who are respected as citi- 
zens and honored as pious and consistent christians. To the 
negro, this religion above all others, is peculiarly adapted; 
lor its intemperate excesses and wild animal excitements arc 
just within the scope of the African's gross conceptions ;' and' 
while it makes the nervous mistress ecstatic in the possession 
of the iiuvard impulse and the spirit-witness, it gives an idea of 
perfect happiness to the sliouting slave. These negroes have,' 
as we have seen, religious instructors, who take as lively an 
interest in their moral well-being as that of their m.asters. The 
southern church deserves all praise for the unatlected interest 
and untiring zeal she has exhibited in this truly Apostolic 
work — a work she has been laboriously engaged in for years.' 
Biit northern Methodism was entirely to philanthropic to per- 
mit this peaceful state of things longer to exist under the old 
goveinm-int. / Tiie S3ntim:intal C/.-itoj/Zs and gvo:inuvr Mizo- 
worms on the other side of the line could not sleep o' nights, 
their consciences being troubled with the damning reflection 
that they had communion with the bartererin flesh and blood, 
and they must needs fulminate their thundering anathemas 
against their '^brethren in Christ" who held slaves. (These 
fellows, had they lived in the flrst century, would have un- 
churched Pliilomon, and protested against Paul himself.) The 
amiable Bishop Andrew is required by the north to do what 
the law will not allow him to perform, or be broken from his 
oflice. The methodist ci the south, though faithful in all 
things pertaining to Wesley's discipline, is excluded from a 
participation in the blessings of the northern church militant! 
and even denied an entrance into Heaven, unless he submits to 
abolition dictation; and thus sinful men for whom Christ died, 
indulge in crimination and recjimhiation, at the expense of 
that cardinal virtue, which if a man have not, he is "as a 
sounding brass- and a tinkling cymbal.*' The result of this 
christian warfare is seen in two churches, one north, another 



•21 

soalli, ])ctwccii whom exists, and will forever exist, llic bitter- 
est hostility, so tlKit men will say mockingly, "see how these 
christians love one anolh,'}' ^ 

Now every iViend of Universalism must regret tiie raising 
a spirit among us that has hitherto produced not!iing hut dis- 
cord among the churches. Prudent men who know the tem- 
per of the south are convinced that the "united front" of the 
churches of the whole world, could not effect a change of the 
feelings and determination of slaveholders upon this subject. 
Ail tlieetlorts of the churches to remedy the "giant moral evil"' 
have only resulted in disrpembcring themselves, and adding 
another link to the, chain of servitudeo What wdth "world 
conventions," indignation meetings, "the old man cloquenli' 
bending beneath the weight of abolition petitions, innumerable, 
protests and the division of the churches, the country has been 
kept in a constant state cf agitation. The ties thajt bind the 
{States in Unicn have been nearly sundered; the harmony which 
should uinte all tliese States of the confederacy in their re- 
sistless m.arch to unparalleled greatness ha'^ been rudely de-s 
stroyed, and in its place tierce secticnal jealousies have been 
engendered without producing any thing but evil to the negro. 
The churehes have lent themselves to this iniquitous spirit of 
"^ faction, and instead of speaking words of peace and good will, 
they utter the rcvilings of rancorous hate. Wouhl you, my 
friends, Ibllpw^ this example an*d prostitute U niversalism to the 
base purposes q( seltish fanaticism and designing demagogues t 
I am confident } ou would not piosecute tliis attempt farther 
were you assured oi the fatal conseqcnces. It would be the 
height of folly for you to endanger the peace and prosperity 
of the denomination of which you arc all distinguished orna- 
ments, by mistaken notions of benevolence; and I assure you 
that however sincere you may be in the opinion that slavery 
prevents the growth of Universalism, you have mistaken the 
causes of our spiritual poverty. Causes of an entirely ditfer- 
cnt nature from the inliuences of domestic servitude, have 
been and still are in our way. And here, let me again call 
your attention to the fact, that Christ and his Disciples did 
not fmd that slavery presented an "insurmountable barrier to 
n] the propagation of the great truth of the Universal Brother- 
liood." The existence of the system at that time you will 
not deny. If it offered any impediment to the success of 
Christianity t!ien, would not the Master have, not only con- 
demned the abuses of. but the state iLs.df? Certtdnlv the doc- 



'J5 

ijines of Christ were the same then that they arc now. I'iic 
sins condemned hy Jesus his gospel condemns thioiii^hout all 
time, and what is now opposed to the principles of his reli- 
ction was as rruch opposed to the Messiah when he lived 
iUTiono; men. Is not that gospel the highest standard of morale 
known? or has modern hene\ olence, in its zeal for the good of 
tlie negro, discovered a more perfect system of rules? Where, 
then, do you lind authoiity for your action upon this su])ject? 
Certainly not in the history of the primitive church; 1 cdii^ 
elude, then, that if Christ and Paul found slavery in their 
day a social institution that did not present "an insurmountji- 
ble barrier to the propagation of the great truth of the Uni- 
versal Brolherhobd," that the holding of slaves now is not .-t 
^•giant moral evil," nor does it in the least prevent the growth 
of tlie doctrines of the great Teacher. I cannot possibly con- 
ceive of an excuse for the Son of God and the infant churcli, 
in not "protesting" against a sinful practice that impedes the 
progress of truth. But that the Roman, Hebrew and Grecian 
slavery of the first centuries, did not prevent the success of the 
gospel, is seen in the fact, that under theif "broad shadow'' 
Universalism, or true Christianity, did grow, and that so rap- 
idly, that in a short time its peaceful tridmphs were extended 
throughout the civilized world, dispensing its blessings to mas- 
ter and slave alike. Have the "form and features of the times'' 
so changed, that the benign influences of that Christianity can- 
not accomplish the great work of purifying the hearts of m^n, 
and leading them to practice the christian duties? 1 think 
not. You believe that the "legitimate influences'' of slavery 
prevent the extension and growtli of our faith. In this I sin- 
cerely think you mistaken. The causes which present bar- 
riers — not insurmountable, however — to our success, are 
the same that exist in every community wdiere Universalism 
is unknown. The influence of prejudice, the pride of opin- 
ion, and the despotic sway of time-honored errors unite with 
those of custom, fashion and popular aids, to oppose a senti- 
ment so directly opposed to all the doctrines so long held as 
sacred and inviolable. But give us the same number of 
pi-eachers and the amdvmt of talent engaged in the defence 
6f the faith in New England, and we would soon show you 
a "wilderness blossomiiig as the rose," even beneath the "broad 
shadow" of slavery. 1 cannot, then, my brethren, sign your 
protest, but moot earnestly and respectfully protect against 
that document. 

c 



26 

f; Becaiise there arc many in tlie denomination who can- 
hoi (onsistcntlj sign it, who, admitting the evil of which you 
coin[)lain, helieYc that the atte*?ipt to force emancipation, is 
not only useless in itself, hut productive of much evil, both to 
the negro and the cause of benevolence and humanity as they 
<:ull it. 

2. Because I lielieve the mild foi-m of slavery as it exists in 
this country, is the best thing for the negro for many years to 
come. His professed fiiends could indict no greater curse 
iipon him than to give him his freedom. You say "'the e3?e^' 
tial nature of slavery cannot be altered by any kindness hovr 
great soever practiced towards Ihe slave. Kindnesses are but 
ilowers in the links of the chain whose iron eats into the soul, 
and no sweetness can lull the moral sense into forgetfulness ol 
what slavery is." This is an admirable flourish of rhetoric; 
but unfortunately, the negro will not understand it, or appre- 
ciate your kindness. Nirie4enths of them would stand in ga- 
|)ing wonder to hear from your well written protest that they 
\n\d been the subjects of a "system of wrongs from its first 
principles to its crowning assumption.'' But then, they are 
behind the "increasing intelligence and philanthropy Of the 
present age," and though they do not dream of their misery, 
tannot be expected to know what is needful to their happiness. 
1 trust I am not wanting in feelings of sympathy for the unfor- 
tunate and oppressed. If 1 thought the American slave a 
genuine object of compassion, I should without delay give hin> 
my sincere condolence in his sorrows; l)ut as 1 consider this a 
similar case to that of Canning's '^ knife-grinder^''^ where the 
benevolence of the 'friend of humeinity^^ is entirely thrown' 
away, I must withhold all such displays of useless regard. 
The slave, like this '^'nce.dy''' and ''weary'' subject of sympathy, 
if asked for his ''pitiful story^^^ would say: "Slory! God bless 
yon^ I have none to tell sir.^^ 

.3. Because I am well assured yo\i can find more legitimate 
objects of charitable effort nearer home. If you possess a su- 
perabundance of sensibility upon the subject of human sutler- 
ing,-and cannot rest satisfied with the good you accomplish rn 
your. appropriate sphere of action, you will find at your owi^ 
doors more than enough to engage your time, and arouse tlie 
strongest sympathies of your nature. BiiL this species of phi- 
lanthropy which has taken possession of you is proverbially 
inconsistent; blind as a bat to the evils at its feet, it has an ea- 
gle's glance for woes at a d'stuncco The mawki?h scntimcn- 



^1 

tiillsts wlix> ass?m])lo in "world ronvontions,'* arc all alive to 
the sufferings of the southern slave, venerable spinsters joia 
their mumblings with the drivellings of superannuated philo- 
sophic dotards, and sentimentalism works itself into a perfect 
paroxysm of suffering s} mpatliy for a being who, in a multitude 
of cases, is far happier than his kind friends who are thus fruit- 
icsslj toiling for his beneiit. Why do not the '"Friends ofllu- 
manily"' direct their attention to the deplorable condition of 
the serfs o^ Russia? Tlierc the remains of feudal barbarism 
still exists in unmitigated severity. You are eloquent upon 
the miseries of two and a half millions of negro slaves. What 
think 3 ou of a system of crushing^ grinding servitude, which 
reduces ryjore than twentij times that number to the level — 
nay, far below the level — of the African; below him in every 
respect — inferior to him in social advantages, without the 
means of education, or moral culture; ill-fed, ill-clothed, and 
without sympathy from his master, he drags out a worse than 
piill-horse existence, but one remove from the miserable ox 
with whom he is frequently yoked. One would think that here 
was a proper field for the missionary labors of abohtionists, 
who are generally "marvelous proper m?n"tG ferit out objects 
ft( compassion. Why does not England, so enthusiastically- 
jealous for the liberation of the American slave, direct her 
energies to the anjelioration of the condition of these millions 
of white Russian slaves, thus groaning under the most horrid 
despotism? Is the philanthropy of anti-slavery men^ confined 
to i\\c black man? Is it regulated by complexion and color? 
Dg these benevolent gentlemen prefer the pecuUar odors of 
Africa to the bleak winds of the Ural mountains; or is there 
a more potent argument against interference in the social re- 
lations of that country, drawn from the fact that the Autocrat 
pf all the Russias has at his beck nine hundred thousand heardt 
cd "sons of Mars," ready to obey his commands, though they 
w^ere to "let slip the dogs of war" upon these ".friends of the 
whole hum^m race?" 

But to bring the subject nearer home: Is there no misery 
and want in Boston? Are there no slaves in that Athens of the 
Republic? or, if not slaves, are there not in that and other 
large cities of the east and nortli, multitudes of unfortunate 
victims of poverty and ciinij, who are denied by harsh se- 
verity the Ijjessings you woulJ confer upon the negro — such as 
the fruits of his labors, intoll actual and moral culture. Do the 
toiling tliousands who are the servants — to use the n]odest 



28 

term— of tho pampered monopolist receive the frdils of their 
libors? Does the cmiciated seamstress who toils vvit'n bleed- 
ing finfroi-s from the tirstdawnof day to the noon of night, for 
one mis^^rable paltry shilling, receive the fruits of her labor? 
Do5s not the poverty of the lower orders, wlio live in the 
squalid haunts — the foitid atmosphere — of damp cellars, and 
subterranean abodes in populous northern cities, clTcctually 
"dwarf the intellect?'' Is not the "alphabet of knowledge*' 
denied to thousandi of the children of the yery poor in the 
free States? And let me ask you, is not the moral nature oj 
multitudes of tliis class, if not denied, yet prevented, by the 
inevitable law" of want, from developing itself? I am sincere- 
ly of opinion that such is the case. Now, would it not be ad- 
visable to inquire, "how stands the m.inistry of the Universalist 
('hurch in reference to the great question" of the elevation of 
the poor and vicious (vicious frequently because poor) masses, 
who are subject to so many grievous ills? Shall we not protest 
against the evils of society — the real, apparent, fearful evils 
of poverty? You would be rnore consistent w^ere you to re- 
move the bearn frona your own eye. before officiously attempt- 
ing to take the mote from anothers. When you have educated 
all the poor, given the means of rriOrai improvement to all the 
vicious, and eradicated the giant social evils in yoar imme- 
diate sphere of action, }0u may with some show of reason ex- 
tend your labors to us; but until tl. at time we would have you 
remember that "charity begins at home.*' I object to your 
schemes: 

4. Because this institution is necessary in the south. To 
destroy slave labor, is to cripple the cneigies of the slave 
States, especially the southern States, and thus materially in^ 

jure the whole coimtry. 

5. Because I believe the domestic servitude of tins commu- 
nity not incompatible with sound christian morality, and a well 
regulated social polity. 

(). Because the agitation of tliis question, in tliis part of the 
Union, by preacliers of Universalism, will efFectunlly prevent 
the growth of that sentiment. Many of the intclHgent men 
of this country are ready to receive a system of religion so ra- 
tional as ours — men aqd women who b.ave had enough of the 
cant and bigotry of partiahspi, and desire scmething more in 
accordance with sound interpretation, enlightened reason, and 
tlie holier sympathies of the human heart. The doctrine we 
preach is ail this; reiijoved on tiie one li;ind from an atlcctcd 



29 

and sickli/ pirlism^ as on the otiicr from a cold, dead ration-. 
alism, it embraces a living healthy morality, based upon the 
teachings of Christ. Such a religion will fmd, when known, 
thousands to embrace and honor it with a consistent life. If 
the preachers of Univcrsalism, with an eye single to tljc ad- 
vancement of the great truths they profess; pursue their hu 
hors with a fervent zeal tempered with prudence, there will 
he no limits to their success; but should they disregard the 
examples of Christ and the Apostles, Avho kept aloof from the 
w^ranglings of party, and the jealousies of faction, they mu^t 
expect to arouse a new class of prejudices, wd^iile you should 
know there are enough in our way already. 

7. Because, i\s an humble citizen of this rcpuhlic, I desire 
the perpetuity of its perfect institutions, that they may dis= 
pensc their inestimable blessings throughout all time. I would 
not have the enemies of the Union exult over its ruin, and ^ 
with bitter mockery proclaim that the '*curse to our country "a 
prosperity" was the factious spirit of fanaticism which found a 
willing and base tool in the heartless demagogue to work ouy 
destruction. The sundering of the natural ties tliat bind all 
the States in one, v/ill be the tirststep in our "road to ruin.'' 
Woe! to that man wdio strikes the parricidal blow. Woe! to 
the wretch who applies the torch to the magnificent temple of 
our greatnesS; The powerful words of the great Webster 
should be written on theheaits and engraved upon the front- 
lets of every An^erican: '^The U/iion, one and inseparable, sow 
and FOREVER.'' Let that be preserved at all hazards. J.et 
harmony be secured by the generous spirit of concession. Let 
the motto of every citizen be: ^-The country, the cchole coun- 
try and nothing but the country and its prosperity." Then 
shall this last refuge of freedom be invincible. Tyrants will 
not dare preacribe limits to its peaceful triumplis; but t!ic 
wildest dreams of ho-pcfql prophecy be more than realized 
in its achievements. Let the fanatical crew who have ke}>t 
this wliole country in agitation, upon the most exciting of (;|l 
subjects, for years past, continue to urge on the restless demon 
of abolition excess, and their incendiary course will soon pre- 
pare the public mind for a contest that will prove fatal to t!ic 
hopes of the patriot, and destroy forever the loftiest expecta- 
tions of t!ic world. 1 mist, then, oppose every action tliat 
can add strength to tlie already aroused spiiit of seclional '^ 
jealousy. I would have that llame exLiiiguished. 1 siioiild 
grieve. to see tlie church, whose pros nerity I desire equally 



30 

with that of my native land, lending its influenGC to produce ro? 
suits so much to be deplored. And let me assure jou that 
s'aould the people in convention assembled, vote for a dissohi- 
tion of the American Union, they will refer to the examples 
of influential religious bodies as important precedents in this 
matter. With this view, I ar^ unwilling to give fny weak in- 
fluence, thougli it might be but as a point in the immensity 
.of space to produce a calamity that would be called the crown- 
ing misfortune of man. IVor, would you my brethren. 

I sliall believe thatrdl who sign this protest are actuated ])y 
jtlie best of motives, and arc of a ditierent scliool from tlie 
O'Connells and Tappans, tl.e Garrisons and Abby Kellys of 
the age. You confess your obligations to use all justifiable 
means to promote'' the abolition of slavery. Those means you 
■would have sanctioned by law and sound morality. You wouk} 
jjring the irresistible n]ight qf public opinion to bear against 
what you tliinka crying sin. There are others, however^ whq 
would incite to insurrection, in the name of Gpd and humani- 
iy — philanthropists wlio would look on and applaud, while the 
slave, enlightened to tlie enormity of his '^monstrous wrongs," 
would wreak his vengeance ai>d glut his savage rage upon the 
liead of his protector and benefactor; men who would see in 
the smoking ruins of tliousands of happy homes and the man- 
gled, dishonored bodies of women and children, naught but 
jtlie just reward of o])pression, and hail with rejoicing tlrjs 
pew freedom, fresh from its baptism of blood. That you 
would shudder at the thought of such results of abolition doc? 
trines carried into practice, all who know you and the faith 
you profess will readily believe. With an intense love of 
your fellow creatures, you seek to dejivcr from bondage one 
whom you think miseral)le; you would accomplish tliat de- 
liverance l)y the niost exalted agencies; you would by appeal^ 
to the holiest sympathies of humanity, induce the master to 
let *Hhe oppressed go free." But I must again assure you 
that your etibrts, though honest, are fruitless. While 1 re- 
spect the motives of tl»e Committee, I must refuse my 
.'•iicarty co-operation" in what 1 believe a useless and danger- 
ously impolitic movement^ \^hich, like the fatal sowing of Cad- 
mu-, will produce, if not arqied men, cruel in their jealousies 
and implacable in their hatred, the fiercest contests among 
brethren, and tluis destroy the harmony which now exists in 
t!ie christian family of which you and I are members. 

I haye thus given you my reasons fpr uQt signing the pro« 



31 

test, and now take leave of you with the acknowledgment of 
sentiments towards each of you. warmer tlian tliose of esteem,' 

Siibsciibing mjself, 

Yours Fraternally, 

N. M. Gi 
Memphis, March 2, 181G. 



^h 



LBJL '05 



S':°^^°S' 



